Apparatus for covering cores



INVENTOR 5. w. @Er/vows `R m M A TTORNEY E W 4REYNOLDS; APPARATUS FOR .coVERING coREs Filed Jan. 6, 19.38

Nov. l2, 1940.

Patented Nov. 12, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR COVERIN G CORES Application January 6, 1938, Serial No 183,663

13 Claims.

This invention relates to an apparatus for covering cores and more particularly to an apparatus for serving tape to an advancing core.

An object o-f the invention is to provide an apparatus for efficiently and uniformly serving a tape to a core.

With this and other objects in view the invention contemplates an apparatus comprising a rotary element, through the axis of rotation of which a core is advanced, supporting a tape supply reel having normally plane and normally dished heads to clamp a tape pad therebetween and force it into dished formation to apply tension to the tape as it is drawn olf the reel and directed over guide rolls to a slotted tubular guide in which the tape is wound about the core.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing,

wherein I Fig. l is a front elevational view of the apparatus; and

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus, the reel being shown in section.

Referring now to the drawing, numeral I0 designates a supporting element mounted for rotation in any suitable manner (not shown) about the axis of an advancingcore II which is to be served with tape I2 from a pad I3. In the present instance, the pad `I3 consists of adhesive saturated tape of a desired width, coiled tightly on a tubular core I4 which in the present instance is cardboard. The pad I3 has normally flat side walls and may be disposed upon a cylindrical hub I6 between heads I'I and I8 of a reel indicated generally at I9. The hub I8 is fixed to the head I1 and is removably mounted upon a reduced portion 20 o-f a shaft 2 I, the latter being rotatably carried by the element I0 and provided with a customary braking means (not shown) to apply a desired drag on the shaft, the braking means being variable through an adjusting screw 22. The outer end of the reduced portion 2i) of the shaft 2| is threaded to receive a compression nut 24 for removably securing the reel I9 to the shaft. The head Il of the reel is normally flat but may be flexed when force is applied to the opposite wall of the pad I3. The

head I8 is dished, as illustrated in Fig. 2, so that,`

when force is applied by the clockwise rotation of the compression nut 24, the dished head will be moved into intimate engagement with the pad and the convolutions of the pad will be moved to conform to the dished head, such movement causing a deformation of the head I1, as shown in solid lines (Fig. 2), the head Il having been moved from its position illustrated by the dotted lines in this figure. The head I8 may also be described as having a warped pad engaging surface, the term warpedfmeaning that the con- 5 tour of the surface engaging the pad is not flat throughout and that all points thereof do not lie in a common plane.

The tape I2, in passing from the pad I3, is directed by rolls 30 and 3l to a tubular guide 32, l0 the ro-lls being carried by the rotary element I0.

A cross member 35 apertured at 36 to removably receive a guide tube 3l held in place by a thumb screw 38 is supported by arms 4l) projecting outwardly from the rotary element I0 to position 15 the guide tube in axial alignment with the advancing core I I a predetermined distance beyond the plane of the reel I9.v The roll 3I is adjustably supported, as at 33, by the rotary element I I) in a positionto direct the tape I2 through 2O a slot lll in the guide tube at the desired angle for spirally winding the tape on the advancing core. The inner diameter of tubular guide 31 is of sufcient size to support the core adjacent the point of application of the tape to prevent 25 lateral movement of the core by the pull o-f the tape and also to assist in applying the tape to the core smoothly.

This apparatus may be employed in combination with stranding machines or the like for 30 forming cables which are to be covered or the apparatus may be employed to cover a single strand.

During the operation of the apparatus the rotating means (not shown) for the element I0 and 35 the takeup reel (not shown) for advancing the core are so coupled to cause the apparatus to serve the tape spirally around the core and cause the edges of the tape to overlap on the core. As the tape is withdrawn from the reel it is guided 40 to the slot 4I, which is in alignment with the incoming tape at all times during the rotation of the unit, allowing the tape to enter the guide without engaging the edges thereof. The tape, therefore, passes in a plane tangent to the core 45 and does not engage the guide until it has started its wrapping movement about the core.

When the pad I3, with normally flat walls, is disposed` between the heads I'I and I8 and forced into the dished formation shown in Fig. 2 a pre- 50 determined uniform pressure is applied to each convolution of the tape and this pressure is maintained by the resilient force of the head I1 throughout the unwinding of the pad.

In the present embodiment of the invention 55 only one reel I9` and a uni-slotted guide 31 are illustrated but it should be understood that a plurality of the tapes may be simultaneously served to the core by radially positioning other reels upon the rotary element I0 and substituting a multi-slotted guide 3l for the one shown.

Furthermore, the embodiment of the invention herein disclosed is illustrative only and may be widely modified and departed from in many ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as pointed out in and limited only by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus for covering cores, a reel having heads spaced to receive a pad of covering tape therebetween, one of the heads having a dished inner wall, and means for moving the heads relative to each other to cause the pad to conform to the dished inner wall.

2. In an apparatus for covering cores, a reel having a resilient head and a dished head spaced to receive a pad of covering tape therebetween and means for moving the heads relative to each other to cause the resilient head and the pad to conform to the dished head.

3. In an apparatus for covering cores, a vreel having a resilient head and a dished head spaced to receive a pad of covering tape therebetween and means for moving the heads relative to each other to cause the resilient head and the pad to conform to the dished head, and means for Vlimiting the relative movement of the heads for walls of the pad to create a uniform tension for all of the convolutions of the material.

5. In an apparatus for covering cores, a reel having a dished head and a normally flat head, a pad of covering tape having normally at ,t walls disposed on the reelV between the heads,

for supporting a supply pad of spirally wound covering tape, means for removing the tape at a uniform speed, and means for applying pressure to the side wall areas of the pad to grip all of the convolutions of tape simultaneously.

'7. In an apparatusfor covering cores, means for supporting a supply pad of spirally wound covering tape, means for removing the tape at a uniform speed, and means for applying pressure to the sidewall areas of the pad to grip all of the convolutions of tape simultaneously and apply a predetermined uniform tension thereto as the tape is removed.

8. In an apparatus for covering cores, means for supporting a pad of covering tape, a dished member disposed adjacent the pad, and resilient means to cause the pad to conform to the dished member.

9. In an apparatus for covering cores, means for supporting a pad of covering tape, a dished member disposed adjacent the pad, and resilient means to cause the pad to conform to the dished member and apply a uniform pressure to the side wall areas of the pad.

10. In an apparatus for covering cores, a member to support a spirally wound pad of covering tape, an abutting member disposed adjacent one wall of the pad, a resilient member disposed adjacent the other wall of the pad, and means to hol-d the pad and members against relative rotation and cause predetermined pressure on all convolutions of the pad simultaneously.

11. In an apparatus for covering cores, a reel for a pad of covering tape having a warped pad engaging surface, and means to move the pad to cause the pad to conform to the warped surface of vthe reel.

12. In an apparatus for covering cores, a reel for a pad of covering material having a head disposed upon each side of the pad, one of the heads having a warped pad engaging surface, the other head being conditioned to cause the pad to conform to the warped surface when one of the heads is moved toward the other, and means to cause such movement.

13. In an apparatus Vfor covering cores, a reel for a pad of covering material having a head disposed upon each side of the pad, one of the heads having a warped pad engaging surface, the other head being conditioned to cause the pad to conform to the warped surface and cause application of a predetermined pressure to the pad throughout the side wall area thereof when one of the heads is moved toward the other, and means to cause such movement.

Emwoon w. REYNOLDS. 

